A fast start led to the first win of the season for Prairie Central and the first victory for new head coach Rick Schertz at the PC helm.

The Hawks ran past Fisher 59-33 in the first round of the GCMS Thanksgiving Tournament Monday.

Prairie Central got rolling early with a 20-7 lead through one period. The Hawks’ defense held the Bunnies to just three points in the second frame as PC built a 37-10 halftime advantage.

“We started out strong and shot the ball real well,” Schertz said.

He added that the big lead allowed the Hawks to work on things, like getting the ball inside. It worked in the third period as PC outscored Fisher 20-12 with Ed Shafer scoring all 10 of his points in the quarter.

PEORIA HEIGHTS — Lexington’s campaign got off to a rocky start as the Chargers of Peoria Christian bucked the Minutemen 54-39 at the Peoria Heights Thanksgiving Tournament.

Christian outscored Lexington in each quarter to pull away. It was 14-8 after the first and the Chargers increased their advantage by three points in each of the next periods and by one in the last stanza.